Democratic candidate for Texas governor Wendy Davis is making waves this election season. She stands at the top of an all female ticket, could possibly change the traditional Texas voting demographic for the first time in nearly 20 years and most recently (and more controversially) has made headlines as the first politician to admit she had an abortion.
In her memoir released earlier this month titled “Forgetting to Be Afraid,” Davis dedicated a chapter revealing details about her intended pregnancy and a baby who had a severe brain abnormality.
According to the Washington Examiner, in 1997 Davis and her husband were expecting a baby girl, whom she had named Tate Elise. After doctors found that Tate had a brain disorder that would cause her to suffer, Davis made the hard decision to terminate the pregnancy.
“She was suffering,” Davis wrote. She had felt the baby tremble violently.
“An indescribable blackness followed. It was a deep, dark despair and grief, a heavy wave that crushed me, that made me wonder if I would ever surface…And when I finally did come through it, I emerged a different person. Changed. Forever changed,” Davis wrote in her book (Washington Examiner).
Some media outlets and politicians have been critical of Davis’ book because they believe she has revealed these personal details of her life to gain democratic votes in the upcoming election. Some even accuse her of making the whole story up due to a lack of evidence.
In an interview with Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, Davis responded to those accusations by saying, “My family would give anything for this not to be a true story in our lives. We would give anything for that.”
Davis is already well known for her stance on women’s health care. Her 11 hour filibuster in 2013 on an anti-abortion bill (SB 5) in Texas gained her overnight fame. The five foot four blonde senator took to the Capitol floor, in now iconic pink running shoes, and packed the building with pro-choice defenders. According to Vogue, in the hours Davis stood at the front of the room the Twitter hashtag #StandWithWendy began trending with as high as 125,000 tweets per hour, including tweets from the accounts of President Obama and Lena Dunham.
Davis’ story and impact is not only important to the issue of women’s health care, but as a democratic leader she has the ability to make the notoriously republican state of Texas turn “purple” aka close to an even amount of democratic and republican voters.
If she wins she and her running mate Leticia Van de Putte will be the first female pair to be at the top of the Texas executive branch (#girlboss). “It would be historic,” Davis told Cosmopolitan. “We already have a historic ticket — this is the first time two women are running at the top of the ticket.”
Both women plan to center their priorities on education, transportation and water to create a strong economy, as well as support women’s health care.
According to Cosmopolitan, even before the SB 5 bill went into effect Texas cut millions of dollars for family planning and refused to accept federal funding for low-income women in the state.
If elected Davis also told Cosmopolitan, “The first thing I would do is restore the women’s health program…I am bound and determined that we will restore that care to women who need it. I know there are women right now who have cancer and have gone undiagnosed. I know there are women who won’t survive what could have been caught in time. I’m committed to restoring their ability to have basic care.”
Whatever your stance is on women’s health care, keep your eyes open because on November 4 the country may see history being made with two women at the reigns in Texas.